Petrol Strimmer Recommendation ?

[Arc Tourist]

I've got about a 60 square metre area that needs thick grass and brambles cut every season. Don't want to hire someone to do it again, so plan to do it myself, and to my satisfaction. I had a Kawasaki strimmer which was 100% reliable. It kept going strong with only the worn strimmer head replaced a few times over the 30 years I had it; now I wish I had brought here to the UK.

Would appreciate knowing what brand and model of straight shaft strimmer would be a good choice, and at a reasonable price ?

Thanks.

 

[Wildatlanticwelder]

Look out for shingu or shindaiwa ,i have both! the shingu runs a kawasaki engine, main thing to get with a strimmers is a high rpm jap engine and light weight , you dont want a big torquey engine hanging off your neck, and the straight shaft is a no brainer, the curved ones just blow the drive cable out the side of the housing.

 

[James1979]

I would vote stihl as it’s what I know.

I look after some gear for a guy who has all Honda and his is decent enough. Very rarely needs much doing to any of it really.

If you have no brand loyalty or experience I would go with what the local dealer is. You will find it easier to get bits and pick their brains for service info. Although they prefer to do it themselves

Have you considered battery? It’s come a long way and the power tool brand ones aren’t bad. The pro gear like stihl is very good but it’s expensive and another battery platform. If you don’t use it much a battery one is less likely to give you grief if you stand it up over winter etc.

Depending on the area, it may well be more effective just to keep paying someone? Especially if they clear up and take the clippings away. I have a guy do the hedges. I can’t be arsed to run and service yet another machine. I would prefer to fix someone’s stuff then pay the hedge guy. Keeps money local too

Edit: Also if it’s thick grass and bramble the battery power tool ones are probably not going to do it. You need a decent cc and petrol. If it’s once a year it may be easier to just pay someone?

 

[Wildatlanticwelder]

" You need a decent cc"
Im not a big believer of the american stance that theres no subsistute to cc,
Small free revving engine , keep it pinned wide open trottle, 10k rpm and it will eat tru anything you face the gut at, without any of the vibration or weight of a torquey motor.
The strips of gut that pop tru a special head are also a game changer, no more exploding strimmer head and coils of gut all over the place

 

[James1979]

Not derailing the thread but the proper way to use a brush cutter is to put throttle on as you start to swing it and release at the end of the swing. Repeat for each swing. You get far more control and you can fire the cuttings directionally and lay them which makes clear up a lot easier.

It is also better for you and there is less vibration and noise from having it balls out all the time, and it is better for the machine also.

I do not subscribe to the American theory at all, but there is a reason the engineers at Stihl development use engines that are the thick end of 100cc for clearing saws and sub 30cc ones for the bent shaft strimmers in old biddies gardens. You need a decent CC to get through the undergrowth especially with brambles and thick dry grass as there is a large drag on the cutting head. As an aside, for the application of the OP a flail such as the Brogio would be the better choice. A blade will work well on bramble, but not so great on grass. The flail will do both very well.

Spend as much as you can on a harness. Not a stupid neck strap. If you have a decent harness you won't know the trimmer is there and all you need to do is direct it. You should not be holding the weight of it in your hands at all

Back on topic - have a look at the 4-mix. Stihls answer to the 4-strok - they are very good.

 

[tom2207]

I have a couple of Tanaka's and they work well , they are split shaft and I find them reliable .
The bigger Tanaka stuff isnt as good but they split shaft lets you get the good out of one engine and a few attachments , also handy if you need to throw a machine in the car.

 

[Domdom]

Anything 4 stroke. I have a makita which has outlasted all the 2 stroke things I’ve owned over the years.
Also use something like Aspen petrol which has no ethanol and doesn’t turn your carb into a lump of white dust.

 

[addjunkie]

Ive had a few cheap ones, neither lasted. The hyundai 4 stroke far far too heavy. Have a sthil now fs55 think it is. Works well, not too heavy. But have fitted a new head to it. But have to agree with real brush cutting go hire a heavy duty flail mower.

 

[James1979]

This is the flail I have and recommended to a few people:

I have tried to find a link but HSE has banned them. Due to stupid.

You can still buy from china. It seems the company (Brogio) are Italian. They have got around the EU ban by shipping from Nigeria

 

[Miranda]

Funnily enough, just pulled mine out to try to find the annexe bathroom drains under a load of undergrowth.

Lawnflite Pro 4390. Kawasaki engine. Must be 15plus years old. Done hundreds and hundreds of hours here without a spanner on it until it broke a throttle cable last year. Never drained fuel or run it dry over winter or any such nonsense. It will just start ( unless I’ve now put a hex on it ).

Oregon nylium starline is The stuff to use for heavier growth, it cuts brambles and small saplings without resorting to the disc head …. I’ve never actually used that.

kinda interested in trying these wire based cutting heads advertised on FB…..

 

[Rannsachair]

My brother is a gardener and runs Husqvarna 525RX's, was recommended by the local garden machinery guy (who knows his stuff) as a good compromise between weight and power. Only repair in last 3 years has been a broken throttle cable. Used every day for hours in the growing season.

 

[8ob]

Worth looking at the wheeled strimmers, nice big four stroke engine, belt driven so no shafts and you can fit the swipe chain to them as well. Nothing hanging around your neck and they have a skirt to calm down things like stones and barkers eggs.

 

[Arc Tourist]

..................

Spend as much as you can on a harness. Not a stupid neck strap. If you have a decent harness you won't know the trimmer is there and all you need to do is direct it. You should not be holding the weight of it in your hands at all

Back on topic - have a look at the 4-mix. Stihls answer to the 4-strok - they are very good.

I had a harness I made up from a couple of guitar straps which worked ok for me. Every year I mowed five and a half acres with the tractor and then spent a fair few hours strimming around oak trees and fenceposts. I'm kind of reluctant to use a flail or blade cutter as I don't have any metal armour for leg protection, but like the idea of the wire based cutting line Miranda mentions.

 

[Arc Tourist]

Worth looking at the wheeled strimmers, nice big four stroke engine, belt driven so no shafts and you can fit the swipe chain to them as well. Nothing hanging around your neck and they have a skirt to calm down things like stones and barkers eggs.

Thanks 8ob, but the area is not flat and I have varying construction debris under the green stuff, so I'd have to rule out a push type mower.

 

[Miranda]

I’d rule out 4 strokes as well. 2 strokes have far better power to weight and, as far as I can see, the engine oil is hardly ever in the right place on 4 stroke strimmers ( unless they have some sort of lunrication system going off that I don’t know about).

 

[Arc Tourist]

Ive had a few cheap ones, neither lasted. The hyundai 4 stroke far far too heavy. Have a sthil now fs55 think it is. Works well, not too heavy. But have fitted a new head to it. But have to agree with real brush cutting go hire a heavy duty flail mower.

The brambles are kind of sparse, but there is a heavy concentration of what I understand is called "mares tail"; its grown about 12 inches in just a couple of weeks since the hot weather.

My brother is a gardener and runs Husqvarna 525RX's, was recommended by the local garden machinery guy (who knows his stuff) as a good compromise between weight and power. Only repair in last 3 years has been a broken throttle cable. Used every day for hours in the growing season.

I bought a Husquvarna helmet with ear muffs & face shield overseas. The saw shop selling equipment almost convinced me to buy a new strimmer, but I saw quite a few of them in there for repair, so felt reluctant; however, I guess not everyone treats their equipment the same as I do. I seem to recall there is a Husquvarna dealer just across the English border on the way to Hereford.

 

[frank horton]

Arc tourist ,
I know u said no to the wheeled variety but mine was made from junk.....has done hundreds of hours.....
ur land cant be any worse than mine....we have rocks as big as a small cars, all rough from volcanic activ millions of years ago plus my rubbish on pallets everywhere....
I made this to go with my Kawasaki (big'un) and my Echo.....
we have almost 8,000m2 to do untill the sun turns it back to a desert in May......everything has spines (that will easily go thru the soles of ur shoes) and so tough even goats wont eat it.....
If you buy new only by Japanese and I beleive Honda are making brush cutters now.....
before I bought my new Echo I asked about Honda and was told no.....
just seen an advert here for Honda so will sell my Kawasaki which must be 20 years old (works well n starts easy)
to trade up for a new Honda....

 

[8ob]

Thanks 8ob, but the area is not flat and I have varying construction debris under the green stuff, so I'd have to rule out a push type mower.

That`s always a nightmare and a machine killer,long term it would be worth getting these into a more manageable/mowable condition. Those push alongs can do high cuts if you push down on the handlebar, you would get about 300mm of high cut.

Bob

 

[Arc Tourist]

Anything 4 stroke. I have a makita which has outlasted all the 2 stroke things I’ve owned over the years.
Also use something like Aspen petrol which has no ethanol and doesn’t turn your carb into a lump of white dust.

I would prefer to go with a 2 stroke model. I use an Aspen petrol product for camp stoves and lanterns. It burns clean, but the nearest supply is miles away from me.

 

[Arc Tourist]

Arc tourist ,
I know u said no to the wheeled variety but mine was made from junk.....has done hundreds of hours.....
ur land cant be any worse than mine....we have rocks as big as a small cars, all rough from volcanic activ millions of years ago plus my rubbish on pallets everywhere....
I made this to go with my Kawasaki (big'un) and my Echo.....
we have almost 8,000m2 to do untill the sun turns it back to a desert in May......everything has spines (that will easily go thru the soles of ur shoes) and so tough even goats wont eat it.....
If you buy new only by Japanese and I beleive Honda are making brush cutters now.....
before I bought my new Echo I asked about Honda and was told no.....
just seen an advert here for Honda so will sell my Kawasaki which must be 20 years old (works well n starts easy)
to trade up for a new Honda....
View attachment 294202View attachment 294203

Hi Frank, I don't have the acreage any more, or the junk to build things, or I most likely would. We sold our small holding overseas, and just have about sixty square metres behind the house we are presently in now. Next year I hope to have our project home completed so a regular hand held strimmer should do. I seem to recall a friend had an Echo strimmer.